Ulaganayagan Kamal Hassan got emotional sharing his bond with Visakhapatnam during the ’70s when he shot for ‘Maro Charitra’ on the shores of the port city. The Telugu film directed by K Balachander had not only earned Hassan a cult status on Telugu silver screen but audiences later mistook Kamal for “Vizag native”.
Hassan was speaking during the pre-release event of his upcoming action drama ‘Thug Life’, held at Vizag on Thursday night.
Soon after the success of Maro Charitra, Hassan recalled how Telugu people had mistaken him for being “Vizag native”. “Many times in Madras and Bombay, Telugu people used to ask whether I frequently visit my hometown Vizag. I would reply to them saying, ‘No it’s been a long time since I’ve gone there’. Then they would say, ‘let’s meet sometime in your hometown Vizag’. I couldn’t tell them the truth that I am not from Vizag. That’s how much I was owned by Telugu people. I was barely 21 years, when I came here. I was a fresh face. After the release of ‘Maro Charitra’ in 1978, it earned a fanbase across Andhra Pradesh,” he shared.
Hassan recalled how Telugu people celebrated with pride when he did a Bollywood flick ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’. “Later, we shot ‘Sagara Sangamam’ in the very land of Vizag. Ek Duje Ke Liye was also shot here. After a few more films, we shot ‘Subha Sankalpam’ at the village called Jonnavalasa (now in Vizianagaram). I feel like home here. And suddenly, I realised an artist like me roaming elsewhere, finds a home wherever he is humbled enough to play for the people. That’s why I reached the ‘kshetra’ where I belong, that is ‘Kala Kshetra’,” he added.
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“My Straight Telugu Film ‘మరో చరిత్ర’…. నాకు ఆంధ్రాలో ఎక్కడ నడవలేనంత Fanbase ఇచ్చింది….
I’ve done 15–16 straight films in Telugu, and you gave me 13 hit films.”
Stating that he has come before fans with another good work, Haasan said his aim has always been to give good films. “I’ve a duty to give you good films. My record in doing straight-Telugu films is good. I have done about 16 Telugu films, of which 13 were massive hits. Those were the hits given by audiences. If I happened to do a bad film, that’s my mistake,” he said.
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